Structural beam for roof edges



Feb. 16, 1965 L. P. SKLAR smuc ruam. BEAM FOR ROOF mass 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 19, 1963 INVENTOR.

LEO P. SKLAR mm, mm;

ATTORNEYS Feb. 16, 1965 L. P. SKLAR 3,169,346

STRUCTURAL BEAM FOR ROOF EDGES Filed Sept. 19, 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 4* L 1 y as IEIG r5 INVENTOR.

LEO P. SKLAR BY QM saw), a Gum ATTO RNEYS Feb. 16, 1965 1.. P. SKLAR STRUCTURAL BEAM FOR RQOF EDGES 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Sept. 19, 1963 LEO P. SKLAR ATTQ RMEYS United States Patent Ofilice Patented Feb. 16, 1935 3,15%,346 STRUCTURAL BEAM FGR RG9 EDGE?) Leo P. Sldar, flair Peri-r, Mich assignor to Lite-Vent industries, inc, Gal; Park, Mich. Filed Sept. 153, 1?.63, Ser. No. 316,921 7 Ciaims. (Ci. t 8) This invention relates to a roof deck facia and facia assembly.

Metal roof decks, commonly used for awnings and for certain types of buildings, are firequently formed of corrugated metal sheeting supported and trimmed at their edges by edge strips commonly known as facia members. Connecting the corrugated strips to the facia members is normally a ditiicult and time consuming job. Moreover, because the workmen must frequently make the assembly on the job site with the result that they must work in awkward places and positions, the connections are frequently far from satisfactory.

Hence, it is an object of this invention to provide a novel facia member, designed for maximum rigidity and strength, and so formed as to provide for easy and rapid assembly with corrugated roof deck sheets.

Another object of this invention is to provide a facia member and assembly wherein a single extruded strip may be used for both side and end facia edgings and wherein the facia members are so formed as to rapidly and readily receive screws and connector clips for rapid and accurate assembly of the roof sheets to the facia members.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent upon reading the following description, of which the attached drawings form a part.

In these drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a corner fragment of a roof deck facia assembly.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken in the direction of arrows 2-2 of FIG. 1, and

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken in the direction of arrows 3-3 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a fragment of the facia member.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of the facia roof clip, and

FIG. 6 is an end View of the clip taken in the direction of arrows 66 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary, perspective view, showing the roof clip inserted in and ready for assembly to the facia member and FIG. 8 is a view, similar to FIG. 7, showing the facial clip in assembled position.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of a modified facia member.

With reference to FIG. 1, the roof deck 10 is formed of either one or two end faci-a members 11 and a pair of side facia members 12 joined together at corners 13 by conventional corner connectors or by welding or the like. For illustrative purposes, only one corner of the roof deck and one end and one side facia members are illustrated, the other corners and members being the same.

The facia members form a support frame upon which corrugated roof sheets 14 are supported. The specific design of the corrugations may be varied and the sheets 14 are conventionally joined together to form one large corrugated sheet, whose corrugations form valley bottoms 15 and crests 16.

The facia members are each formed of identical, uniform crosssection extrusions, such as of aluminum, of suflicient thickness and width to support the roof structure. As shown in FIG. 2, each facia member is formed with a lower, upwardly opening channel 17 whose legs form an inner wall 13 and an outer wall 19, with the inner wall terminating in a short flange 2i) upon which a continuous edge bead 20a is formed. The outer wall is likewise provided with a flange 21 extending towards the inner wall short flange and terminating in an upwardly opening U-shaped member having an upwardly opening, narrow groove 23.

The outer wall is provided with an integral, upper extension-portion 24 extending considerably above the height of the inner wall and having a grooved portion 25, Within which is formed a groove 26 having a narrowed mouth 27 opening inwardly, that is, towards the inner wall. In addition, a suitably formed groove 28 may be formed at the upper end of the extension 24 for receiving removable extensions, such as decorative skirts or signs or the like.

The last valley 15 at the side of the corrugated sheet is fastened to the short flange 20 or" the side facia member 12 by means of screws 2d, with the valley being abutted against and held against movement by the bead 20a. The inner Wall is sloped to properly position the short flange and head for this purpose and the slope thereof may be manually changed, by bending the wall relative to the base of channel 17 to accommodate the corrugation.

The free edge of the last corrugation is bent into a head 39 which snugly, but slidably, fits into the groove 26, with bead 36) being inserted into such groove by sliding the sheet endwise relative to the facia member before applying the screws.

As shown in FIG. 3, the end facia member 11 is arranged transversely to the corrugations and the valleys 15 are secured by means of self-tapping screws 31 extending into the grooves 23 in the U-shaped member 22. In this case, the bead 20a acts as a fulcrum about which the corrugated sheet is slightly deformed under the pressure of the screws and the weight of the sheet, for tight, rattle free fastening.

The groove 23 (see FIG. 4) is provided with a number of opposite, ofi-set, V-shaped slots 32 which serve to grip the screws 31 and permit plastic flow of the material forming the groove under the threading action of the screw 31. These V-shaped slots extend the full length of the facia member.

The crests 16 are fastened to the end facia member 11 by means of clips 33 (see FIGS. 5-8). Clips 33 are formed of thin sheet metal strips 34 which are curved in cross-section to correspond to the curvature of the tops and sides of the crests of the corrugations. Screw holes 35 are formed near one end of each clip and a T-shaped key is formed integral with the opposite end of each clip. The head 37 of the T is bent into a flattened S-shape integrally connected by a stem 38 to the strip 34 (see FIGS. 5 and 6).

To assemble the structure, the end head 3%) is slid endwise into groove 26 and screws 29 are applied to fasten the corrugated sheet to the side facia member 12. Then screws 31 are applied to secure the sheet to the U-shaped member 22 of the end facia member. Thereafter, the clips 33 are slipped into groove 36. To accomplish this the head 37 of the key 36 is held approximately horizontally to pass through the narrow mouth 27 of groove 26 (see FIG. 7). After the clip is slid adjacent to its respective crest, it is rotated (see arrow in FIG. 6) to position the head 37 transversely of the groove 36 where it is thus frictionally locked in place. Then, the self tapping screw 39 is passed through the screw hole 35 and engaged with the side of the crest. Thus, the curvedstrip 34 of clip 33 is in face to face contact with the top and one side of the curved crest 16. Hence, only one screw is needed to fasten the clip to the sheet and hold the clip locked in the groove. The screw, being on the side of the crest, is easily accessible and easily dirven into the sheet by the workman.

FIG. 9 illustratesa modified facia member 45, substantially identical to that previously described, but with the extension 24a of outer wall 19 being considerably higher wall and having an integral grooved portion located considerably above said U-shaped member and having a V groove which opens inwardly, towards the inner wall, with than the extension 24. previously described. Here, the I grooved portion 25a with the groove 26a, while located considerably above the U-shaped member 22, is below the upper end of the extension 24a, and the upper end is provided with an upwardly opening groove 28a and, if desired, an additional groove as, both grooves being adapted to receive tongue. portions 47 on a removable extension 48, such as a sign or panel or the like; Otherwise, the construction and operation are the same.

This invention may be further developed within the scope of the following claims. Accordingly, it is desired that the foregoing description be read as being merely illustrative ofan operative embodiment and not in a strictly limiting sense. i

I now claim:

1. A roof deck outer wall and extending towards and being aligned with said short flange and terminating in an upwardly opening,

' narrow, U-shaped member arranged within said channel near saidouter wall and having a narrow groove of a width sufiicient to threadedly receive screws; the outer wall extending a considerable distance above the inner wall and having an integral grooved portion located con siderably above said U-shaped member and having a' groove which opens inwardly, that is, towards the inner facia comprising an elongated, integral, uniform cross-section member formed, in cross-section, as

the opening of such groove being narrower, in cross-section, than the width of the groove; the sheet corrugations being parallel and'forming crests and valleys transverse to the end facia member, with the valleys rested upon the short flange and overlapping the U-shaped member of said end facia member, and screw fasteners extending through some of the valleys and threadedly engaged with the groove of the U-shaped member, and clips for fastening some of the crests to the end facia grooved por.tion,said clips each comprising an elongated strip, curved in crosssection to the contour of the crests and having a T-shaped key'integral with one end thereof,.the head of the key being fitted in the grooveof the grooved portion and being frictionally locked therein and the strip being fas-' tened by a screw means to one of said crests; the sheet corrugation adjacent the side facia member having its valley rested upon the short flange thereof and screw fastened thereto and having its crest terminating in a bead wall, with the opening of such groove being narrower, in.

. cross-section, than the cross-sectional width of the groove.

2. A construction as defined in claim land wherein said inner wall slopes upwardly, at an acute angle away from the outer. wall.

' 3. A construction as defined in claim 1 and including Y an integral bead formed on the upper surface of said short fiangenear its juncture with said inner leg, said head extending the length of said facia. member and forming a stop, for an .edgepo rtion of a roof sheet.

24. A construction. as defined in claim 1 and including at least one upwardly opening groove formedin the upper end of said outer wall for receiving .a'correspondingly shaped tongue formed on an outer wall extension for mounting said extension upon the facia member.

5. A construction as defined in claim 1 and including aplurality of approximately V-shaped slots formed in the surfacesdefining the groove of-the U-shaped member, the

slots being parallel and spaced apart and, extending the length of the facia member for engaging with screws inserted into the groove of. the U-shaped member.

'6; A roof deck assembly comprising at least one end and one side facia members joined together .at their ends to form a cornerand corrugated roof deck supported by said-:members, the facia members being of uniform and identicalcrosssections and each being formed, in crosssection,.as an upwardly opening, wide, U-shaped channel I 5 'tions, said clips each comprising an elongated strip, transversely curved to' the contour of the crests and having a whose legs form an outer wall and an inner wall respectively; the upper end of theinner wall terminating in a short. flange extending towards the outer wall; a flange formed on the outer wall and extending towards and being aligned with said short flange and terminating in an upwardly opening, narrow, U-shaped member arranged within said channel near said outer wall and having a nar ow groove for threadedly receivingscrews; the outer wall extending a considerable distance above the inner snugly fitted and frictionally secured within the groove of the side facia member grooved portion.

7. A roof deck assembly comprising an end facia member and a corrugated roofing sheet whose corrugations are arranged transverse to said member and supported thereon, said facia member being formed in cross-section as an upwardly opening, wide, U-shaped channel whose legs form an outer wall and an inner wall respectively; the upper end of the'inner wall terminating in a short flange extending towards the outer wall; a flange formed on the outer wall and extending towards and being aligned with saidv short flange and terminating in an upwardly opening, narrow, U-shaped member arranged within said channel near said outer wall andjhaving a narrow groove of a width to threadedly receive screws; the outer wall extending a considerable distance above the inner wall and having an integral grooved portion located considerably above said U-shaped member and having a groove which opens inwardly towards the inner wall, with the opening of said groove being narrower in cross-section,

than the widthof the groove; the sheet corrugations bewith the groove of the U-shaped member; and clips ,fas-

tening certain of thecrests to'the end facia grooved por- T-shaped key integral with one end thereof, with the head of the key being fitted in the groove of the grooved portion and frictionally locked therein and the strip being fastened by a screw means to one of said crests.

Rbferencesilited by the Examiner UNITED .STATES'PATENTS 2,006,300 6/35 Kinninger se -481 2,873,698 2/59' Hartman et al. 50-4 3,099,335 7/63 Sklar 1s9 37 3,113,434. 12/63' Phillips et al. 4...' 5066 3,143,227 8/76 4 Showalter 50 -67 1 ,FOREIGN. PATENTS 324,451; 1/30 Great Britain.

HENRY C- $U HER AND,Pr Iimry Examin 

1. A ROOF DECK FACIA COMPRISING AN ELONGATED, INTERGRAL, UNIFORM CROSS-SECTION MEMBER FORMED, IN CROSS-SECTION, AS AN UPWARDLY OPENING WIDE U-SHAPED CHANNEL WHOSE LEGS FORM AN OUTER WALL AND AN INNER WALL RESPECTIVELY; THE UPPER END OF THE INNER WALL TERMINATING IN A SHORT FLANGE EXTENDING TOWARDS THE OUTER WALL; A FLANGE FORMED ON THE OUTER WALL AND EXTENDING TOWARDS AND BEING ALIGNED WITH SAID SHORT FLANGE AND TERMINATING IN AN UPWARDLY OPENING, NARROW, U-SHAPED MEMBER ARRANGED WITHIN SAID CHANNEL NEAR SAID OUTER WALL AND HAVING A NARROW GROOVE OF A WIDTH SUFFICIENT TO THREADEDLY RECEIVE SCREWS; THE OUTER WALL EXTENDING A CONSIDERABLE DISTANCE ABOVE THE INNER WALL AND HAVING AN INTEGRAL GROOVED PORTION LOCATED CONSIDERABLY ABOVE SAID U-SHAPED MEMBER AND HAVING A GROOVE WHICH OPENS INWARDLY, THAT IS, TOWARDS THE INNER WALL, WITH THE OPENING OF SUCH GROOVE BEING NARROWER, IN CROSS-SECTION, THAN THE CROSS-SECTIONAL WIDTH OF THE GROOVE. 